Minnesota is looking for a new state flag design and crowd-sourcing did not disappoint, resulting in some "absurd" and "ridiculous" designs

I’m from Texas. I well aware of the history. I still maintain that flag is no more visually evocative of the Confederacy than is the US flag, and the article was talking about that, not about more non-visual issues behind the history of the flag.

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Also, one of the awesomester flags out there.

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it’s maybe worth saying that the american flag probably stirs different emotions in different groups of people. if texas ( or the us ) ever grappled more directly with the legacy of slavery, i could see some flags changing.

as it stands now, i think you’re right. there’s very little emotional association of texas independence with the reasons for texas independence. hagiography works!

oh… so you’re one of those people who actually read the article are you? :wink:

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Let us not forget as well that the Zia symbol for NM was appropriated without permission from the Zia pueblo.

An awesome flag, nonetheless.

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Indeed. The fact that the City of Chicago’s flag is such an awesome design, just makes the state of Illinois flag look so much worse in comparison:

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I concur!
I think you could add to those 5 key points you posted upthread about what makes a good flag: it would also rock as a tattoo.

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Because it’s going to be on a test. A test which the first grader must pass on pain of repeating first grade.

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There’s dirty hands all the way back to Columbus. I’m not trying to say Texas is awesome, only that their flag is not evocative of the Confederate flags. Don’t read anything more into it than that. If you want to discuss some details of the history of European settlement of Texas, I could do that, but we’re talking about flag design.

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100% perfect

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Second last one is lovely.

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good design includes symbology and meaning. i don’t think it’s necessary to delve deeper than we already have, but it is completely on topic to mention the meaning behind a symbol when discussing the use of the symbol.

( especially when you yourself had asked why it might evoke the confederacy. you’d have to ask the original author, of course, but – to me – enslavement is that answer. )

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My best guess is that the blue lines are intended to depict the Mississippi River, the Minnesota River, and the St Croix River (although they don’t actually make an “x” IRL…)


map source

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So this is the best flag?

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The artist who submitted F726 knows what’s going on :laughing:

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A couple that stood out for me:

F1960 - can’t go wrong with Bigfoot


F1545 - a shark about to eat a mushroom?

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This one seems just about ready to be carried through the next Crusades.

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That does look like a (not very) stealth Christian cross, especially the vertical version.

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The new Cook County flag fulfills the 5 rules, including being evocative:

For those who don’t know, Cook County includes all of Chicago and some of the adjacent suburbs, but it’s at least 90% Chicago.

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That’s neat! I’m guessing that the blue is meant to symbolise the Chicago river?

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We’re gonna need a bigger flag.

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